


The Importance of Numeracy to the Modern Shapeshifter

by rudbeckia



Series: Spookylux Huxloween 2018 [8]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Humor, Huxloween, M/M, Mild Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-18 23:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16128776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: Huxloween day 8: Monster from your culture.In Scottish folk tales, the Cat Sith is a huge black cat (or a witch that can turn into a cat nine times only) that takes lost souls.Hux is going to his grandmother’s memorial service in the Highlands. He takes Ben with him for moral support. They go for a walk in the hills at dusk to clear their heads after the long train journey and meet something unexpected.





	The Importance of Numeracy to the Modern Shapeshifter

Green fields flashed past the train window while hazy purple, heather-flanked hills rolled past slowly in the distance. Here and there, broken lines and clumps of low, crabbed trees marked where hedgerows once stood. Now, clinging to a few browned and curled leaves, their twisted branches merely pointed away from the prevailing wind like arthritic, black-fingered hands.

Ben turned his gaze to his travelling companion. “I can’t believe a journey can take this long in a country so small.”  
Hux looked up from his iPad. He yawned. “If you’re bored, go get us a cuppa from the restaurant car.”  
“There’s not one on this train,” said Ben. Hux shrugged and resumed reading. Ben sighed louder. “Hux.”  
“What?”  
“Why did you ask me to come with you?”  
“Because I particularly enjoy the company of your scintillating personality.”  
Ben scowled at his phone screen for a minute then asked, “Are we nearly there yet? We’ve been on this train for _ever._ ”  
Hux clicked his iPad off and glared at Ben. “I am so sorry my grandmother inconvenienced you by dying whilst Scottish. She lived in the Highlands. She died in the Highlands. Her memorial service is, surprise surprise, in the Highlands. Can we please finish this journey in quiet?”  
“Oh we’re here,” Ben said, pointing as the train trundled to a stop beside a cracked concrete platform. “I’ve never been to Scotland before. Will there be a chip shop? Do you think I can get a battered _Mars Bar_?”

There were no taxis but the walk to their guest house was short since the town was small. Ben and Hux followed the owner up to their room, thanked her and put their bags down. As soon as the door closed, Hux turned on Ben.  
“I gave you one job, Ben. One. Job. Book us into a nice hotel. And...” he waved his arm around the room. “You got us this? One overly floral room with the smallest double bed ever? And a bathroom down the hall?”  
“It’s quaint,” said Ben with a shrug. “And cheap. I had to pay upfront and I didn’t want to go into overdraft. I’ll sleep on the floor if you’re worried about sharing a bed.”  
“You will do no such thing,” said Hux, glaring at Ben. Ben grinned back at him and waggled his eyebrows until Hux laughed.

They headed out for a walk. The guest house owner pointed out a good route in pink highlighter on a photocopy of the local Ordnance Survey map and recommended the single pub that served food, then warned her guests to be back before dark.  
“Moon’s oot the nicht,” she said as if the significance should be clear. “Wouldna want y’s tae be oot and aboot in thae hills eftur dark wi’ yon Moon. Y’might meet th’Cat.”  
“The cat?” echoed Ben.  
“Aye. She’ll be oot an’ aboot an’aw, lookin’ tae steal lost souls an’ strangers.”  
Ben looked helplessly at Hux. Hux smiled. “Thank you for the warning. I’m sure we’ll be back in town before dark.”  
They walked out of the house and along the quiet street. Soon they were at the edge of the small town, no more than a village really, and heading uphill on a path like a brown scar in the moss, with the low sun warming their backs the best it could. The walk was bracing. Once out of town and high enough that the sparse traffic from the main road was out of earshot, wind scoured the hillside and roared in their ears. They walked and walked without seeming to gain on the rounded, greyish summit of their chosen hill, although when they turned the town looked like a toy beneath them. Ben shivered.  
“Can we go back?” he asked. “I want to check my email and there’s no signal up here.”  
“Yes, all right,” replied Hux. “We can see if the pub has wifi.”

They set off back down the stony path towards town. Ben turned and looked back up the hillside. He froze, frowning. Hux waited for a whole minute before his patience evaporated. “Come on. You heard the warnings about being _oot and aboot_ after dark.”  
“I saw something,” said Ben. “I’m sure of it. Something moving.”  
“Probably a sheep,” said Hux with a shrug.  
Ben raised an eyebrow at Hux and swept his arm across the view of an empty hillside lit in pale and dark greys by a bright full moon. “Sheep? You see sheep?”  
Hux looked. “Probably the shadow of a cloud,” he said, then he stared and pointed. “Or... or that... FUCKING PANTHER!”  
Hux grabbed Ben by the arm and they pelted down the path toward town. But the cat was faster. It overtook and stood firm, blocking the path in front of them, swinging its long black tail, green eyes reflecting bright in the moonlight, and grinning with a mouth full of sharp teeth.  
_”Well then ghillie dhu.”_ The words seemed to form in Ben’s head directly, without passing through his ears. _“What’s a strange thing like you doing out in the moonlight?”_  
“I’m not strange,” Ben protested. “You are.”  
Hux gaped at Ben. “You see it? Why are you taking to it?” he asked. “We should run!”  
The cat flicked its gaze slowly from Ben to Hux and back again. _”That one I know. He’s one of mine. But what are you, my ghillie dhu?”_  
“I’m...” Ben said, glancing nervously at Hux. “I’m his boyfriend. We live together.”  
The Cat Sith grinned wide and panted laughter. _”He never knew about this side of me. His maw never wanted him to know about us. She hoped he’d not turn, being only quarter what I am.”_  
The Cat walked a few soft paces forward and faced Hux. Rooted to the spot, Hux stared back.  
_”D’ye ken me? Are y’feart?”_  
Hux swallowed and sucked his lips, lower then upper, dragging them between his teeth.  
“I’m not scared,” he said. “You’re not real. You’re from a fairy story Gran used to tell me about the Cat Sith. I was thinking about her so you’re in my head.”  
The Cat yowled with laughter and took another two paces closer. _”Fairy! Naw. But Ah’m glad ye kept me in mind. Tidgie, dinnae turn yer back oan yer parentage. Or yer grand-parentage.”_  
Hux closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes, the Cat still grinned, still stared at him. He rubbed his eyes. “Gran?”  
“ _Ye’ll learn the change one day. It’ll just come to ye an’ ye’ll wonder why ye never did it before. But count the times. Ye can turn into yer cat form nine times but ye can only turn back eight.”_  
The cat leapt over their heads and vanished into the dark. Ben and Hux clasped each other’s hands and picked their way downhill back into town.

The pub was busy and the menu offered a short selection of large portions of comfort food. They ordered meals and bought drinks then sat quietly.  
“That was...” said Ben.  
“Yes. It was,” agreed Armitage.  
“You’re a...”  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ben, Hux said, lowering his voice. “Who’s going to credit a story about being accosted by a giant black cat and told—by it, mind—that it is your recently deceased grandmother who turned into a cat permanently because she couldn’t count to nine? We shared a hallucination brought on by the stress and fatigue of going anywhere by train. That’s all.”  
“Yes,” said Ben, suppressing an eyeroll. “That’s a far more likely explanation, Tidgie.”  
Hux’s eyes flashed anger. “If you ever call me that again, I will kill you.”  
Two plates were slid onto their table. They ate quickly and in silence, the smell of steak pie and fried fish reminding them that they were ravenous. After clearing his plate, Hux sat back and clasped his hands over his midriff. “I feel much better. Want dessert?”  
Ben nodded. Hux wandered over to the bar to look at the dessert menu. He laughed and called the barkeep over.  
“Can we have one deep fried _Mars Bar_ with ice cream, and two spoons?”


End file.
